10 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Security Policy and Posture

Use a Password Manager

Having a password memorized isn't good because it makes it easy to type in without thinking much. That's an easy way to fall for a phishing scheme. Nick Leffler, owner, Your Brand by Nick Leffler, says having a password manager requires some thought and tasks to retrieve a password, making it more difficult to just give a password away to anybody.

Social media is a culmination of tons of information being converged in one location, which makes it a vulnerable target. As Andre Bagrin, CEO of My Digital Shield points out, when phone calls, video conference information, pictures, chat logs, etc. are all stored in a central location via social media, a potential hacker has access to just about everything, quickly and easily.

"Because social media has become so central, someone really does have the ability to essentially highjack someone's life," Bagrin adds. "You can become a victim through your social accounts and not even know right away. Potential job opportunities can be cut short among many other unfortunate repercussions."

Social media can become a security nightmare in a couple of ways, says Rob Sadowski of RSA, the Security Division of EMC. First, social media can be used to distribute malicious content (malware, malicious links), and the likelihood of users engaging with that content is much greater because it comes from friends or known contacts they trust. Second, personal details shared on social media can be very useful for hackers looking to compromise users' identities or find high-value targets for attacks, fraud, or cybercrime.

Improve your social media security posture by considering the following tips on social media best practices for business.

Sue Marquette Poremba has been writing about network security since 2008. In addition to her coverage of security issues for IT Business Edge, her security articles have been published at various sites such as Forbes, Midsize Insider and Tom's Guide. You can reach Sue via Twitter: @sueporemba

To protect the company from those insiders who abuse their privileged access and from hackers with stolen credentials, many companies are turning to a privileged access management (PAM) solution. ... More >>